NASCAR Ford 400: Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart Headed for Photo Finish

NASCAR wanted a thrilling finish between points leaders Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart at the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami, and it appears as though NASCAR is going to get exactly what it wants.

Caution flags may have slowed the pace of the season's final race in South Florida, but the heat of excitement and anticipation remains, with the two Spring Cup contenders separated by only a few cars as they approach the halfway point of the competition.

Edwards came into Sunday's finale as both the pole sitter and the points leader, with a slim three-point cushion over NASCAR's resident "bad boy." This despite Stewart having notched four wins in the Chase—four better than Edwards, who has yet to capture a checkered flag in the postseason.

The difference has been Edwards' consistency, as he's finished in the Top 10 eight times in nine Chase races, as opposed to seven such results for Stewart.

Unfortunately for Stewart, he's encountered some radiator issues in Sunday's race which may very well prevent him from catching up to Edwards, who has led the vast majority of the laps thus far. The rain in Miami and the delay it has caused, though, may give Stewart a chance to regroup and zoom past his chief competitor in the process.

That being said, Edwards still has the clear upper hand, both in the Ford 400 and in the Sprint Cup Series standings. He need only keep doing what he's been doing—that is, driving consistently and with good, clean pace—to secure his first championship on NASCAR's senior circuit.

For now, though, the hope is that he and Stewart will have opportunity to duke it out down the stretch, that inclement weather won't force NASCAR to postpone the end of the race until Monday or, worse yet, call it early.